While Sabre has been benchmarking its low-fare search performance for several years, this year’s study went one step beyond: it included extensive interviews with travel professionals as well as a “best fare” assessment comparing low fare efficacy, bookability, response time, diversity and ancillary content data.

According to the research, Sabre surpasses its competitors in all regions, finding the lowest fare 10 percent more often than Amadeus and 7 percent more often Travelport, on average. In addition, the study finds that 75 percent of bookable air content in Sabre offers a branded fare or ancillary option, versus 65 percent in Amadeus and 61 percent in Travelport.*

The study reveals for both leisure and business travellers that while price continues to be important, there is also a growing demand for a higher quality of service as travellers want more out of their travel experience. Depending on the traveller profile and the type of journey they are undertaking, the study indicates that travellers are willing to pay up to 25 percent more for added value.

“The concept of best fare for an individual traveller goes beyond price and depends very much on their specific needs, preferences, and reasons for travel.”, said Wade Jones, president, Sabre Travel Network. “Sabre is very aware of the increasingly sophisticated demands of today’s travellers and we have been making significant strategic investments in our air shopping solutions to deliver both low fares and ancillary content. These investments will help airlines and agencies raise conversion rates, increase customer satisfaction, and foster loyalty.”

Business and leisure travellers have different expectations on price and ancillary content

While the lowest price remains top of mind across all customer segments, the research suggests that there are pronounced differences between leisure and business travellers. The survey found:

− Leisure travellers have certain considerations when shopping for a trip:

− Flexibility when it comes to travel dates or destination

− Price

− Baggage included

− Refundability or factors like shorter travel durations are less important

− Business travellers are also price-conscious, but their needs are more diverse than those of leisure travellers. Alongside price, other deciding factors include:

− Short travel duration

− Airline brand

− Amenities like more legroom, priority boarding and lounge access

− Fares that deliver convenience and flexibility within the confines of their corporate travel policies

“We are seeing a shift in the market as awareness of rich content is slowly increasing,” said Dr. Markus Heller, co-founder, Dr. Fried & Partner. “As airlines continue to unbundle their offers and provide a wider range of branded fares and ancillaries, travellers appreciate individual services and amenities more than when they were included. Our research suggests that, as rich content gets more and more into travellers’ focus, it will present a significant opportunity for differentiation to travel agents.”

“This changing landscape will benefit travel agents as well as airlines,” said Wade Jones. “Sabre is dedicated to helping airlines merchandise and distribute their content, including branded fares and all the air extras, through both direct and indirect channels. We are continuously enriching our technology to support the airlines' omnichannel strategies, helping them increase their yield, basket size, upsell, cross-sell and merchandise their products in an attractive, consistent manner.”

Sabre’s travel marketplace plays an important role in facilitating the marketing and sale of airfares, hotel rooms, rental cars, rail tickets and other types of travel, to more than 475,000 travel agents and thousands of corporations who use it to shop, book and manage travel. It is one of the world’s largest marketplaces, annually processing over $120 billion in estimated travel spend.

*Please note that the figures on bookable air content containing ancillaries have been amended for accuracy since the article was originally published.

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About the Study

The Low Fare Study was commissioned by Sabre and conducted by Dr. Fried & Partner, a leading marketing and consulting company. For the study, Dr. Fried & Partner conducted a competitive analysis and comparison of the best fare search capabilities of Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport. More information can be found at www.sabre.com/sayyes.

The study, which was conducted in the second half of 2017, covered 18 countries and included 100 of the top booked city pairs per country. For each city pair, Dr. Fried & Partner evaluated the GDSs’ ability to find the lowest published fare with six combinations of advance purchase and travel duration. In addition, Dr. Fried & Partner compared the availability of branded fares and ancillaries for each fare.

About Sabre

Sabre Corporation is the leading technology provider to the global travel industry. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations, including passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than US$120 billion of global travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world.For more information, please visit www.sabre.com.